Voice-cloned activation for Northern California Toyota Dealers drove 16,000+ fan calls and an average two-minute engagement — outperforming traditional TV and social benchmarks by orders of magnitude.

Independent advertising agency H/L has been named a Gold Honoree in the Automotive category at the 18th Annual Shorty Awards for the Brock Purdy Chat Bot, a voice-powered AI fan experience created for the Northern California Toyota Dealers Advertising Association (NCTDAA) starring San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

Built using ElevenLabs voice cloning technology, the chat bot lets 49ers fans speak directly with an AI agent voiced by Purdy himself. H/L sourced and cloned Purdy's voice during the controlled sound stage filming of the campaign's hero spot, capturing his natural tone, inflection, and personality. The result was not a scripted chatbot but a dynamic, conversational game show: fans accessed a custom landing page, used their microphones to talk with the AI, and received personalized responses — custom sports nicknames, hometown commentary, and reactions synced to pre-recorded video of Purdy via real-time webhooks.

In its first three months, the activation generated more than 16,000 calls with an average call time of over two minutes — a benchmark that substantially outperformed typical digital engagement, where TV spots capture 15 to 30 seconds of attention and social ads roughly six. H/L drove traffic to the experience through QR codes on regional sports TV and influencer-led social posts. Fans were entered to win VIP field access while interacting with the AI.

The work drew enough notice from ElevenLabs, the AI voice technology partner, that the company published its own case study on the execution.

The Shorty Awards honor the most outstanding work in digital and social media from brands, agencies, nonprofits, and creators worldwide. Winners are selected by the Real Time Academy, a body of industry experts spanning marketing, creative, strategy, and digital innovation. The 18th Annual winners were announced at a ceremony in New York City on May 19, 2026.

“Innovation gets thrown around a lot, but to me it means doing something new, something different, and something first to market," said Tim Schatz, Director of Data & Innovation at H/L. "We did this with a small task force across creative, innovation, media, accounts, and web development. No brief, no kickoff, no rounds of review. Just idea to demo to build, iterating as we went. Voice AI was brand new, and we had a big idea: an interactive game show with Brock's voice. We went from there to a real working solution in a fraction of the time it normally takes.”

About H/L

Since 1985, H/L has been fiercely independent and committed to Make Momentum.™ The company’s strengths include local and national media activations, creative development, insights and analytics, full-scale digital and video production, multicultural marketing, and PR. H/L is headquartered in Oakland, California, with people in 22 states and offices in Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix, and St. Louis. What unites H/Lers across the country is a common drive—to pioneer new ways to push clients’ businesses forward and serve its communities.

About the Shorty Awards

The Shorty Awards are an annual international awards program honoring the most outstanding work that defines culture and creativity across digital and social media. Founded in 2008, the Shorty Awards are judged by the Real Time Academy, a body of industry experts across marketing, creative, strategy, and digital innovation. Learn more at shortyawards.com.

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